Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-11-20
Rombarding u Citadel with
SOAP bubbles.

00Q6I6l A6uu OlIlCo 10 bAlO AoeCoo psA""
1T which the. Republican party, as it
il carried down the stream of failure,
catches in the hope Of again reaching
the shores of popular favor. For
more than two years the Commits
sioner, the Secretary Of the Interior,
and the President have worked hand
and glove in the Herculean task OF
cleaning out the Augean stables made
foul by a quarter Of century OF Re
publican rule, during which time the
public domain was plundered and the
lands of the people given to Gre
ate grinding monopolies. In
that time the Administration I'M
earthed no, erd of the most villainous
frauds in the Land Office, and by the
united efforts of Mr.. Sparks, Judge
Lamar and President Cleveland near
" one-half of the zoe, 900 600 acres Of
lands of which the Republican party
robbed the people in order to enrich
their pet monopolies, was recovered tc
the people. These things have been
done and yet no Republican paper has
had word of encouragement to give.
II anything has been said it has been
in the line of attempting to sneer out
of existence the gross wrong-doing OF
their own party, and to belittle the
achievements of the Administra-
ton. But there is dispute between
the Commissioner and the Secretary.
Itarises out of a difference of opinion
as to some of these land cases. Both
are firm in their views, but the sub
ordinate wishes to rule his superior,
instead Of submitting after performing
fully his own duty. Mr.. Sparks re-
signs and the President accepts his
resignation. Here is the straw at
which the Republican party, in danger
of being swept out of existence by
popular opinion that it has already
survived all the usefulness there ever
was in it. clutch in the vain hope of
escape. Sparks is nothing to them,
but they would make point against
Cleveland. To do this, one of their
leading journals is actually betrayed
into tho confession of gross corruption
in the land office under Republican
rule. Hear it:
This seems TO have been the case
with Commissioner Sparks OF tne
General Land Office. He was not
to occupy his official position
and do nothing, nor could he be made
to understand that the office OF
G Commissioner of the General Land Of
fee was a sinecure, but he went poking
and nosing about the dusty archives
Of his office, stumbling upon fraud
in one pigeon-hole and a swindle in
another, finding tracks of attempts to
rob the Government here, there and
and he, foolish man,
having been deceived by the sonor-
BUSINESS of Cleveland's pet phrase-of
q public Office being a public trust
and being deluded by the mugwump
organs into believing that the Admin
istration was really and sincerely in
favor of reform, undertook to do his
part as best he could. He hunted
down the Benson frauds and swim
dies; he ratified the dry bones of
erroneous and inequitable land
grants to certain railroad corporations.
That is a pretty black array of
charges to heap up against the Grand
Old Party, and it comes with bad
grace from an organ which has been
q thick-and-thin advocate OF Republic
canism ever since it came into exist
once. The beauty of it is that the |
charges are true, that the present
Administration did just what it is
credited with doing. In spite Of the
that Mr.. Sparks is the only
honest man with hand in the affair,
here are an innumerable army of
Mugwumps in the country who think
he President is a large factor in this
,ood work, that this line of policy
vill be carried out despite Mr..
parks retirement, that should the
party ever return to
'ower, the pigeon-holes would
gain become lurking place
DR. land frauds and swindles,
hat in the dust on the archives
Tould be found tracks Of those who
tempt to rob the government. here,
here and everywhere. These same
dugwumps-that is. converted Re-
just numerous enough